Dave's Daily Devo - June 13

It’s a powerful story. The earth is shaky. A comet might crash our delicate atmosphere and like the dinosaurs, we humans will become extinct. An untreatable virus could invade from the jungles and disease could bring death to billions. Or it could be as simple as cows and humans breathing out too much CO2, and the planet’s delicate balance dips over to destruction, and we are no more. The end of the world and fear is a powerful tool in the hands of a skilled storyteller. The tension over runs our minds and makes us cry out for a deliverer, whoever that might be.

The story often told about our precious earth is that it’s here by chance, and so are we. So if we are going to have a chance, we must seize the day. Our survival is at stake. Then, dependent on the storyteller, salvation will come if we stop having so many kids, stop burning so much carbon based fuel, or stop eating so much meat.

The God of the Bible tells a different story, and the psalmist in the Lamedh section of Psalm 119 (verses 89-96) declares that the earth isn’t here by chance. There is Someone who made it and makes it firm.

“Your dependable covenant love endures to all generations; You have established the earth, and it stands fast. By Your judgments they stand today; for all things are Your servants.” - Ps. 119:90-91

My faith isn’t in the power of Stephen Hawking’s mind or Dwayne Johnson’s biceps to deliver me from aliens or the San Andreas Fault. In God’s redemptive story He promised that there would be day and night, spring, summer, fall, and winter until the end. Then He has revealed that He will not use water but fire to dissolve the elements (2 Peter 3:5-12). I’m trusting the Son of David and the dependability of His Word to get me into eternity alive in the End.

LORD, until then by the guidance of Your Spirit help me to be a good steward of the planet You have graciously given us to live in. Help me to use the mind You’ve given to carefully weigh and examine evidence so that I use the resources You’ve given with humility and generosity. Protect me from buying into the prideful, anti-supernatural, human deliverance narratives that dominate much of our culture. Help me follow the psalmist in affirming the perfection of Your Word, humbly admitting my own limitations and imperfections, and trusting in Your Son.